Book Review: Heartbreak for Hire by Sonia Hartl

Rating: ☆☆☆
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 320 pages
Author: Sonia Hartl
Publisher: Gallery Books
Release Date: July 27th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Brinkley Saunders has a secret.

To everyone in the academic world she left behind, she lost it all when she dropped out of grad school. Once a rising star following in her mother’s footsteps, she’s now an administrative assistant at an insurance agency—or so they think.

In reality, Brinkley works at Heartbreak for Hire, a secret service that specializes in revenge for jilted lovers, frenemies, and long-suffering coworkers with a little cash to spare and a man who needs to be taken down a notch. It might not be as prestigious as academia, but it helps Brinkley save for her dream of opening an art gallery and lets her exorcise a few demons, all while helping to empower women.

But when her boss announces she’s hiring male heartbreakers for the first time, Brinkley’s no longer so sure she’s doing the right thing—especially when her new coworker turns out to be a target she was paid to take down. Though Mark spends his days struggling up the academic ladder, he seems to be the opposite of a backstabbing adjunct: a nerd at heart in criminally sexy sweater vests who’s attentive both in and out of the bedroom. But as Brinkley finds it increasingly more difficult to focus on anything but Mark, she soon realizes that like herself, people aren’t always who they appear to be.

WAFFLING.

That’s who I felt by the end. That I was waffling back and forth between how the story came to a conclusion. Everything was okay. This one wasn’t my favorite though.

I think I never got off on the right foot for the story. I don’t love one night stand tropes so when that happened right off the bat I was already wondering if this was going to circle back around. I will say, in the middle I adored Mark and Brinkley. There relationship went a whole lot better than I hoped and I was feeling the vibes between them. [The spice was too much for me and I did have to skip a lot, FYI].

The premise was interesting and luckily played out as it should. I thought the Heartbreak idea was unique at least. I just didn’t want it to be all of Brinkley’s personality. She had some good learning moments and came into her own by the end, which we love to see!!

I didn’t love the ending. It wrapped up way too quickly. And also…Mark was really in the wrong and I don’t know if I would have forgiven him that quickly. It closed out in a rush so I don’t even know how I feel about Mark and Brinkley at this point.

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary Romance
Language: some strong
Romance: multiple open door
Trigger/Content Warnings: emotional abuse and gaslighting, cheating recounted